The Return
by Melenari
Summary: After his experience on Homeworld and all he went through, Lars finally returns home to earth. Some time has passed and he knows that he has to deal with a lot of situations and face a lot of people now. How will they react to his return? What will they say about his new, pink look and his powers? What will happen now that he's back in Beach City? And what about Sadie?
1. Coming Home

Finally. It has been such an awfully long time. Finally. They were on their way home. Finally!

Lars was on the ship the Crystal Gems sent to get him back to earth and took a look around. Everyone was talking to Steven and asking him what was happening and what they have been through. Lars, himself, was just sitting there, on his chair, thinking back to the time he spent on Homeworld.

He died. He died and was brought back to life by Steven. Without him, his short life would have been over. A life that he spent with hiding and being scared. He sighed as he thougt about his past life. He didn't deal much with those kind of thoughts when he was on that strange planet, but now that he was heading back to earth, all these thoughts came back to his mind. About the things that might happen there. About the people he had to face. Not only that he felt miserable about his past life, he also missed his family. His mother. His father. And especially Sadie. He wanted to cry whenever he thought about her, but he pulled himself together. He didn't want to cry in front of the other Gems that were still talking with Steven about the past month.

He would have loved to turn back time to do everything again. To make it better. To safe Sadie this time and escape from that stupid ship together. He wanted to be his hero, but failed. She wanted him to be his hero, but he wasn't brave enough. In that moment, he regretted every single time he hasn't been there for the girl he loved so much.

It took a while for them to finally arrive back on earth. The door opened up and everyone climbed out of the ship. Lars was the last one to get out. He took a deep breath of the nice sea breeze that surrounded him and went playfully through his now white hair. The beach and the ocean was right in front of him, the sun was high in the sky. Seagulls screamed out and everything seemed so peaceful. Has the beach always been this beautiful?

Lars carefully took the steps of the ship down and landed with his shoes in the white sand. His feelins completely overwhelmed him and he broke out in tears. He was home. He was finally home. He pulled out his shoes and socks to walk around in the sand, barefoot. The feeling of the sand between his toes was incredible. He took a few steps before he started running. He ran and ran, before he tripped and fell face-first into the sand. But that didn't spoil his mood. He laughed and cried at the same time, absolutely happy about being back on earth. He had never thought he would see this planet ever again, after all. He didn't even notice that Steven and the Gems were watching him during his emotional outburst. And even if he would, he wouldn't even care at this point.

The pink boy got up, patted the sand from his clothes and walked back to Steven. He looked at the smaller boy and smiled.

„Thank you, Steven!" He said. „For everything!"

„No problem!" Steven answered cheerfully. „I'm just so glad you're home!"

„No! Y-You should let me thank you! I mean… You saved my life. Twice now. You brought me back to life AND back home! This is more than I deserve! Just know that I will always be grateful to you and if there is ever anything I can do for you, please let me know!" Lars answered unusually serious and sincere.

„An Ube Roll would be all I could think of right now!" Steven said and winked at the taller boy.

Lars laughed. „Well, I'll gladly bake one for you!"

Lars grabbed his shoes and waved everyone goodbye when he felt like it was time to leave. He just wanted to get home. He wanted to see his parents, hug them and tell them how grateful he was that they were in his life.

When he walked through Beach City, it weirded him out. Everything seemed so familiar and yet everything had changed. He, for one, had changed. He wasn't the same guy anymore that he was back before he was abducted. The old Lars died. He wasn't scared anymore. He became brave. He had done brave things, spoke brave words. He was an entirely different person. Maybe that was why he saw this familiar town with other eyes.

Soon he arrived at the house of his parents. He took a deep breath before he moved his trembling hand towards the doorbell. How would his parents react to him? Would they be happy? What would they think about his new look and his powers? Would they be shocked? Proud?  
He rang the bell and bit his bottom lip. He felt nervous about what was about to come since he didn't know what to expect.

The door opened and Martha Barriga, Lars' mother, was standing in front of her missing son. It took her a few moments to recognize who was standing in front of him, but eventually, her eyes became large and she reached out her hand to him.

„L-Lars… ? Is that you? Is that really you?" Martha said in a whisper.

„Yes, Mom… It's me!" Lars answered and looked at her sadly. He could see the shock and confusion in her eyes.

Martha cupped her son's face in his hands and caressed his cheeks with her thumbs. „What happened to you? Where have you been? What happened to your hair and what's with all that paint on your body?"

„That's… no paint, Mom!" Lars mumbled and looked aside. „That's… kinda my skin!"

„What? What do you mean? Is that some kind of disease?" Martha kept asking.

„Please, just… let me in and I will explain it all to you!" Lars answered and looked at his mother, almost begging.

Martha nodded and stepped aside to let her son in. Once inside, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She even started crying while doing so. „I'm so happy you're back! We were worried sick!" she sniffed.

Lars wrapped his arms back around his mother and cried a little, too. „I'm so sorry, Mom!" he whispered.

„It wasn't your fault..." Martha replied.

„No… That's not what I meant!" Lars said and looked at his mother. „I've been such a brat. Nothing, but a spoiled little brat and a jerk. I've been a horrible son to you and took you and Dad for granted! And I'm so sorry about that!"

Martha was surprised about her son's words, but she never felt this happy before. She knew Lars had changed and she didn't know what happened, but she was very glad about who he became. She hugged Lars again and pulled him a little closer. „Don't worry about it, my dear! I'm just glad you're finally home!"


	2. Growing Up

Lars found himself wrapped up in a blanket, his favorite food and his favorite beverage standing at the table in the kitchen right in front of him. His mother Martha had put up a lot to make him feel as welcome back home as possible. Unfortunately, Lars did still not feel hungry at all. He tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. She was way too excited that her one and only son was back home. Lars felt like he wouldn't deserve all of this, but was still happy about being welcomed back like this.

"Mom, thank you! But, really, I-"

"Are you comfortable, Lars? Are you feeling okay? You haven't eaten anything yet, you must be hungry!" Martha interrupted her son.

"Mom!" Lars shouted out and sighed. "I'm… not hungry! For some reasons, I cannot become hungry anymore ever since I… I look like this!"

"But… you have to eat at least something!" Martha said, not quite understanding the context of what her son just said.

"I know! I mean, I don't know!" Lars sighed frustratingly. "Look, Mom! I'm not entirely sure about who or what I am! All I know is that I'm pink and I have this weird portal thing going on in my hair and… I know it's hard to understand, I haven't even figured it out myself. But what I can tell for sure is that I'm not hungry and I haven't been hungry ever since I rose up from the dead like this. Please don't worry about it!"

He had told her about everything that happened while he was gone and he could see that his mother had a hard time understanding what was going on with Lars. How could she, when he couldn't even understand it himself.

Martha looked at her son, confusion arose in her mind. No matter how hard she was trying, she couldn't and wouldn't understand and accept that Lars had died. She didn't really want to think much about it either.

"So…" Martha said, her voice sounded like she was still right in the middle of her thoughts. "I won't have to cook for you anymore?"

Lars breathed out a laughter. "I guess!"

"I can't do that!" Martha answered.

"Mom!"

"No, Laramie! I have been cooking for you ever since you were born! I can't just stop! You're not dead! You're right in front of me! Sitting! Talking! Breathing! I… I can see you! I can touch you! You're not dead! And I won't pretend that you're dead by not cooking for you!" Martha said. She became really nervous and hysterical as she spoke.

A sigh escaped from Lars' lips. "You're not supposed to pretend I'm dead! Because I'm not… I think! I'm just… not getting hungry!"

Martha sighed as well and drove one of her hands through her orange hair. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be!"

"It's just so confusing!" Martha said and closed her eyes for a moment.

"It's okay! It's even more confusing for me!" Lars answered. "But I will try to understand! And once I know what's going on… I will help you understanding it, too!" He gave her a smile.

Martha smiled back and caressed over Lars' cheek. "It's incredible to see how mature you became… It's almost like you're a whole different person!"

"I'm still your son! The same old Lars, just… in a new Style!" Lars joked and smiled awkwardly. He tried to cheer his mother up by brightening up the mood a little.

But she was right. He had become some sort of a new Lars. During his time at Homeworld, he felt like he finally figured out what was important. He understood that being scared or being different weren't negative things. He learned that individuality was a gift, that every shape of him was worth loving and that running and hiding away from life would lead to nothing. Being part of the Off-Colors did well to him and he was thankful that they could show him that hiding was no longer an option. He had to stand up for who he is and who he wants to be, he had to stand up for what he loved and wanted.

Suddenly, a familiar name crossed his mind.

Sadie.

Lars had thought about her a lot.

He knew he had to face her sooner or later. He _wanted_ to face her. He wanted to tell her how much he missed her, how sorry he was for leaving her behind when she needed him the most and how much he felt for her.

But he knew he messed up.

This wasn't the first time he messed up when it came to her. But this time, he felt like he overstepped the mark. He went too far. He had probably hurt her, a lot. He probably made her feel miserable, not only about their previous bit of relationship, but also about herself. That she was not worth being rescued. And the more he thought about it, the more unbearable became these thoughts.

Eventually, Lars stood up from his chair and looked at his mother.

"I'm going upstairs… in my room. Is that okay?" He asked.

Martha nodded her head. "Of course! Get some rest. I'll be here if you need me!"

After thanking Martha for her understanding, Lars went out of the kitchen. He grabbed the phone and went upstairs into his room. He was making plans on calling Sadie.

But what would he say? Where would he even begin? How would he break the news to her that he was some sort of Zombie? Would he finally tell her all about his feelings towards her?

He sat there on his bed. Thinking. Staring at the phone with her number already dialed, ready to make the call. But he didn't. He sat there and looked at the house telephone as if they would hold a staring contest.

After half an hour of just staring at the phone, Lars finally took it into his hands and made the call, hoping that the woman he felt so much for would eventually answer.


End file.
